Introduction

Advanced Product Quality Planning APQP is a structured method for defining and executing the actions necessary to be ensure a product of satisfies the customer.  APQP is program and the supplier-led and is the required of all system, subsystem and the component manufacturing locations.  This is a includes both internal and the external suppliers.

Goal of APQP

The goal of the APQP is to facilitate communication between all the persons and activities involved in a program and ensure that all required steps are completed on time, with a high quality-of-event, at acceptable cost and quality levels.

Purpose of APQP

• To provide guidelines designed to produce a Product quality the plan which will be support the Development of a product that will satisfy the Customer.
• Goal is to be facilitate communication with everyone Involved to assure that all required steps are the Completed on time.
• To product on time at lowest cost.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN APQP

1. Form a cross functional team:

• The first step in the planning the program is to be define who will make up the cross functional team. Cross functional of the team does not mean One (1) person doing everything!
• Typical members of the cross functional team may include:
• Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Purchasing, Program Manager
•  Identify the project team leader the responsible to oversee the Planning 

2.Define the Scope:

• Define internal roles and the responsibilities.  Rustics are the helpful to ols
• Define who the customer it is.

Five Phases Of APQP

1: Planning and Program Definition

When the customer demands require the introduction of a new product or an overall of an existing one, preliminary planning becomes front and the center, even before discussions of the product design or redesign. In the Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) phase, planning is the directed at understanding the customer’s needs and the product expectations. Planning activities include gathering necessary data to define what the customer wants and then using the information to hash out the product characteristics. The quality program needed to be created the products as specified can be the defined. The output of this work includes by the product design, reliability, and the quality goals.

2: Product Design and Development

Completing the product design is the focus of the phase. This is an also where a product feasibility the assessment comes into play. Resulting a outcomes from the work in this phase include:

• Completed design review and verification
• Defined material specifications and equipment requirements
• Completed design the failure mode and the effect analysis to be assess failure probabilities.

Established control plans for product prototype creation.

3: Designing and the Developing the Process for a Product Manufacture

This is a phase focuses on the planning the manufacturing process that will be produce the new or improved product. The goal is to be design and develop the production process while keeping product of specifications, product quality, and production costs in mind. The process must be able to produce the quantities needed to the meet expected consumer demand while the maintaining efficiency.

Examples of outcomes in this phase include:

• A completed process flow configuration
• A completed process failure mode and effect analysis to be identify and the deal with the risks
• Operational process quality specifications
• Product finishing and packaging requirements.

4: Validating the Process and the Product

This is the test phase for the validating the manufacturing process and the final product.

Steps in this phase include:

• Confirming capability and the reliability of the manufacturing process and the product quality acceptance criteria.
• Performing production trial runs
• Testing product output to be confirm the effectiveness of the deployed manufacturing approach.

Reconciling needed to the adjustments before moving to the next phase.

5: Launch, Assessments, and Continual Improvement

The full-scale production launch occurs in this phase, with emphasis on evaluating and the improving processes. Mainstays in this phase a include reducing process the variations, identifying issues, and the starting corrective actions to be support continual improvement, as well as collecting and assessing customer feedback and the data related to the process efficiency and a quality planning effectiveness.

Typical outcomes include:

• An improved the manufacturing process through the reduction in process variations
• Improved the quality of product delivery and the customer service
• Improved customer satisfaction.

List of APQP 23 Elements

1. Customer order:

When any order received by the supplier from customers, all the planning, schedules and the investments are directly effects. The customers are explaining those expectations and decisions of suppliers for particular order for further documentation like nomination letters, APQP supporting documentation, and risk levels for particular order or product / process.

2. Customer specifications:

In along with customer’s order the customer expecting some specific requirements to the related its end applications, where expected design and the drawing, technical sheets and other specific requirements enclosed for supplier understanding. The technical sheet and drawings are most important for engineering segment hence specifically needs to highlight and frequent communication required to comply all the requirements accordingly.

3. Ability Appearance:

The supplier must be the aware requirements of customers, and the should be important to be defined characteristics related auditability, handling and appearance mentioned, and the characteristics must be verified, and characteristics set and the reference samples should be the accessible with the customer.

4. Design FMEA:

To prevent defects during product design & development phase, a design FMEA needs to apply in the system to ensure potential design and development defects and their root causes identification, measurements and preventive actions. The cross functional team, conduct the design FMEA where all the functions of the product and must take into account practices and concern. The expectations from the design FMEA, is to be all the problems related to product / process layout can be identify and the resolved during initial stages so that mass production schedule can be observed.

5. Design Review:

The targets of the design review are to prevent confusions and problems, observing the          progress of processes and, to ensure that the purposes meet the requirements and all the verification should be conducted according to design verification plan. Reviews on potential improvements as concern product reliability and manufacturing cost, quality costs and planning.

6.Design Verification plan:

It is supplier responsibility to effectively implement design phase of the product development, and planning of all inspection, and checking to ensure that the product or design meets the customer’s end applications.

7.Quality Planning:

The organization must communicate with team to conduct detailed requirements of APQP and verify the implementation, and provide detailed for APQP status report. The quality planning should have managed to provide clear illustration of the task program and conclude associated risk during planning phase at the customer’s specific request. Expectation from the quality planning element to carry out a risk assessment and specify the extent of his team participation in the advance quality planning processes.

8.Inspection Method, Inspection Equipment & Tools:

The purpose of this element is to obtain inspection methods and used inspection equipment and tools which is adequate for the measuring works. The equipment & tools used for the inspection processes should be verified & evident of equipment capability, process suitability and requirements must have discussed with customers. The equipment & Tools are providing by planning team according to operation requirements. The inspection methods, equipment & tools used for inspection processes and inspection planning should be communicated with customers.

9.Inspection Plan / Control plan for the Prototype item:

To secure the prototype quality, the inspection plan carried out as the categorized and scope of the inspection and a consistent inspection equipment for prototypes are defined and approved with customer. In case of the customer having any special requirements or the special characteristics should to be included in inspection plan, and control plan and related documentation maintained and submission to customer accordingly.

10. Prototype item’s production & inspection:

To maintain customer schedules and the dispatch the product, prototypes must meet quality requirements and the cost competence. The expectations from this section is to proper planning, monitoring and inspection should be maintained & approved without any non-conformance with prototypes prior to delivery.

11. Design – Drawing & Specifications:

When we talk drawing and specification that means includes all the technical drawings and specifications, design data & information, material specifications received / provided by customers & prepared at supplier end. The element indicates the drawing and specifications and It Is the related schedule management, generally customer must to be informing to the supplier of schedules and changes making in a drawing and the specification on before real production to be maintain schedule of the product. If the supplier had the prepared drawing & specifications, supplier responsible for the agreed changes with customer.

12. Confirmation of manufacturing feasibility:

If the customer provided all the design and specification, the supplier must assess the manufacturing feasibility of the products, from the planning stages to production processes. A supplier cross a functional team is the responsible for evaluate the manufacturing feasibility of the proposed product within the structure of the documentation / sales control review. The cross functional team must be committed that the product meet end application requirements and can produced, review, inspect, packed and shipped to the customer in time manner with expected quality.

13. Process flow the chart & the Mass Production Layout:

A real production or mass production the layout, or process flow chart of the production is a visual representation of the planned sequences of processes for particular product and its specification. The purpose of the establishment for planning, FMEA of process, quality control plan, production plan and visual data structure is to ensure that the process sequences of production stages and the related, in-process, and incoming materials in the production inspection.

14. Inspection Equipment Capability:

The purpose of this element is to maintain and improvement of the measuring system, capability study and inspection equipment accuracy. For the achieving the goal of the standard element requirement needs to conduct capability studies in direction to verify the suitability of the inspection equipment. The inspection and measurement methods should to be verified & the approved by customers for the appropriate requirements, in case of the any modification are made in measurement equipment of method of inspection, it is necessary to capability study must be conducted.

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15. Pre-production / Pre-release control plan:

It is important that the process & product specification requirements should meet during the pre-production, to achieve the standard specification needs to increase inspection frequency and additional inspection characteristics. All the inspection equipment, inspection methods and it scope should defined and approved by customer before the production.

16.Process FMEA:

process FMEA is systematic procedures or method conducted for identify and account potential defects in production processes, and to analyze root causes to tracing real causes of defects occurred in processes. The method used before the product development, to prevent defects during process development. To get the better results all production and inspection stages should be involved for analyze. The PFMEA helps to detect potential defect modes, describe causes to easier for team to define necessary corrective measures and monitoring to evaluate control for appropriate location.

17. Process Instructions:

The process instruction is one of the important documents for the maintain and improve product quality & increase performance of appropriate site, all the instruction like production plan, work instructions, maintenance plan and schedules, process parameters etc., are used at the workplace should be easier for each people working at appropriate location, and should be accessible.

18. Logistics Concept includes Packaging materials:

The purpose of the process is to ensure that the delivery capability in the contract or agreement with the relevant customer communication. In the concept all the logistics including packaging the materials should to be used suitable and the maintain quality of product during logistics. The packaging specifications and the corrosion protection for shipments to the customer, packaging specifications must to be observed & approved by customer.

19. Production First Trial Run:

The purpose of the process is to be verify of the mass production process. The advanced production quality the planning expecting from this element is to use of machinery and tools and inspection equipment and location and manpower managed accordingly. In the production first trial, process & product verification of product quality as per planned, and the product quality must consist of each batch measurements as per standards.

20. Mass Production Inspection Plan and Control plan:

To ensure that mass production i.e. samples collected from production are met the product & the process specification for the requirements. Inspection related processes, methods, the inspection equipment etc., should to be documented and the verified, approved by customer.

21. Initial Process Capability Study:

To ensure the product can be manufactured as requirement of product and process specifications are prove by process capability studies. The process capability study uses statistical method to prove of process is capable, to standard requirements of process & processes i.e. specifications. In the initial process capability study all the required pp./pp. values, machine capability at cm/cake values should be maintained and controlled, in case of values or deviation identified that corrective measures must to be introduced in the order to be achieve process capability.

22. Technical tests on Production Items:

The process verification is structural planning document prove that the product meets customer requirements and all the technical requirements are conducted through technical test with product from the production trial run, if defined in the design verification plan  or in the product and process specification.

23. Initial Sampling Inspection:

Initial sampling inspection is process that prove the product manufactured under the production condition meets the customer’s requirements as well as customer-provided technical, product & process specifications. In the sampling inspection the qualified inspector collects the samples from running production lines and inspect the sample according to the standards and specification requirements.

                                                                                                                                            

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